Thursday, February 03, 2005

The State of our union is increasingly dependent on gov't

In keeping with tradition, last night's State of the Union Address was little more then a laundry list of all the fabulous things that government can do in the next year to make our lives better. In addition to nanny, sugar daddy, physician and body guard, President Bush also wants the federal government to be America's stock broker. As my father astutely pointed out, every time that the government involves itself in another aspect of American life, it becomes the "foot in the door" to wider and wider government control. Education is a perfect example. The D.O.E. was proposed and sold as little more then a clearing house for federal dollars to aid localities and states. It was promised to be free of strings and compulsions and would not be a take over of education, but that is clearly what it has become. Social Security numbers were sold as narrowly focused and specific and would never be used for any other purpose, yet today you cannot function in American society without providing this number for virtually any service, public or private. The national income tax would never exceed 1% said the legislators that proposed it. Yet the highest bracket peeked at 90% in the early 1980's. The only product that government can create is more government. The Bush social security proposal is a foot in the door to the micromanagement by bureaucrats and eventual take over of the whole range of now private investment vehicles from the stock markets to the bond markets to real estate and commodities. I shudder at the idea and you should too!